


Love Is Orange

by RunWithWolves



Series: 30 Days of Creampuff [6]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: 30DaysofCreampuff, F/F, Hearts Au, fluff fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-03-31 05:12:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3965695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunWithWolves/pseuds/RunWithWolves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It seems like every time Laura smiles, another little yellow heart pops into existence to float above Carmilla's head. The vampire is desperate to make sure that no-one spots them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Heart of Yellow

Carmilla scowled at Laura’s back as the vampire flopped onto her bed. Laura Hollis, naive cupcake extraordinaire. The girl who thought that sunshine and chocolate were all it took to keep the world going. But as silence filled the room Carmilla’s scowl quickly faded into a smirk.

She’d won. Maybe, at last maybe, the cupcake would stop hunting down her roommate and listen to wisdom on how the world really works. Then Laura would stop being so very Laura and righteous and sunshine and Carmilla could go back to this being just another normal assignment. 

No such luck. 

“Maybe that’s just the way it is” Laura said at last, “ but that does not mean that I have to accept it. I deserve better. Betty deserves better. Hell, even you deserve better.”

Carmilla froze and Laura glared at her for a moment. Carmilla knew that she was waiting for some kind of snarky response but her mind couldn’t quite come up with anything beyond confusion. When no response came, Laura spun around in her chair and slammed down a button on her computer, posting all of her videos online. 

Sitting up onto her elbows, Carmilla heard a faint pop just behind her. Still, she kept her eyes fixed on the back of Laura’s head. 

Moments later, klaxons burst to life in the hallway and Laura rushed from the room to the town hall. Carmilla continued to sit on the bed. Staring at the space where Laura had just been. 

Something bumped her softly in the back of her shoulder, jolting her from the words that were still rebounding through her head. Carmilla turned. Floating just behind her, at head height, was a small yellow heart. 

Carmilla frowned and grabbed it from the air. The heart was small, fitting neatly into the palm of her hand. It was warm to the touch and had almost a soft foam squishiness when she pressed softly against it with her thumb. She squinted at the colour, a vibrant yellow. 

Letting it go, she watched the heart float up from her hand and hover by her head before she snatched it back. With a quick glance about the room indicating that she wasn’t about to be molested by a tiny army of hearts, Carmilla raised an eyebrow and stared at the little heart. She gingerly poked it with her other finger and the heart released small puff of chocolate and cinnamon scented air. 

She poked it again.

“Carmilla?” Laura’s voice was in the room.

Carmilla jumped, nearly dropping the heart. Fumbling with it for a moment, she scanned the room with the sudden need to stash the heart somewhere safe. 

She stuffed it down her shirt. 

“What? No. I wasn’t doing. There was nothing. What?” Carmilla stuttered and turned.

Laura’s head was poking through the doorway, still frowning, “You need to move. Laf says that harpies will eat anyone who isn’t at the town hall.” She placed a hand on the doorframe.

“Yeah sure,” Carmilla got shakily to her feet, “you go ahead. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Despite the frown, Laura hesitated, “Well don’t take too long.” She disappeared again. 

Carmilla made her way slowly towards the door. Her hand absently brushed against the doorframe where Laura’s hand had just been. The hallway was empty. Completely cleared of students except for the distant footsteps that had to be Laura making a mad dash down the stairwell. Late. Not with the ginger twins. In danger of being eaten by harpies.

A small smile drifted across Carmilla’s face. 

*Pop*

She looked up. A second small yellow heart was hovering over her head. Carmilla shoved it in her bra with the other one, “At least I’ll be even,” she mumbled, heading for the stairs. 

# 

If hung by her ankles over a bubbling pit of piranhas with a stake to her heart and a giant spider crawling towards her foot, Carmilla might have admitted that she was fond of Laura Hollis. 

Might have. And just fond. 

None of that sentimental mushy crap. 

Carmilla sat on her bed and held out her hand for Laura’s so that she could put the batwing charm on it. the look on the girl’s face was pure skepticism. Actually, Carmilla found it hard to believe that anyone wouldn’t be fond of Laura Hollis. The girl was condensed sunshine shoved in a vessel far too tiny to be filled with that much energy. And goodness. And adorableness. And adorkable hotness. And…

So she might have been fond of Laura. But only in the same way that everyone was fond of a genuinely good person. Nothing special. 

For example, when Laura had strolled into the dorm room and started dancing, it was nothing special that Carmilla had smiled to herself at the girl’s antics.

And there was certainly nothing special about how Laura’s pillow smelled exactly like Laura and was the fastest way for Carmilla to fall asleep after her nightmares. 

Or yesterday. Yesterday there was nothing special about how cute Laura looked when she made that bunched up face of aggravation as she yelled at Carmilla about the hair in the drain.

That was just Laura Hollis and Carmilla possibly being fond of her was nothing special. 

No matter what those stupid yellow hearts kept trying to imply. There are getting a little out of hand. The other day Carmilla had been stuck with three yellow hearts popping up behind her head after Laura had sympathized with her after the Dean’s visit. And, on top of it, the cupcake had even defended her to Xena. 

Carmilla had taken three steps into the hallway before 3 little pops forced her to look up at the hovering hearts. She grabbed them, cradling them in her arms and shielding them from the world with her body. Two doors ahead, the science ginger had burst from their room. In a panic, Carmilla had literally chucked the hearts out the nearby window to avoid being caught. 

The hearts had come back. Of course. She had maybe ten of the blasted things stuffed under her mattress, one in her backpack, and one stuffed in her back pocket from her conversation with Laura not ten minutes ago. She could feel them now. Bubbling under the mattress like ten tiny yellow inconvenient problems. The one in her pocket warm and buzzing.

Laura’s skin was soft under her thumb as Carmilla slid the charm into place, tying it loosely. Carmilla held onto Laura’s wrist for a beat too long when the cupcake looked up with a small smile and asked where Carmilla went at night. 

She totally glossed over the fact that Carmilla had accidentally called her OCD. And Laura asked the question in the most awkward way, leaving the hand with the batcharm just dangling oddly in the air. 

*POP*

Carmilla couldn’t quite help it. She leaned in close to Laura’s face, covering the action by standing up but not quite missing the little inhale Laura gave when their noses almost touched. One pithy line later and Carmilla was strolling casually out of the room. 

Or as casually as one can stroll while trying to corral a small yellow heart that was desperately trying to break free of Carmilla’s fist and reveal itself.

#

It was 3am, there was a heart floating around Carmilla’s head and she didn’t care. In fact, she was smiling up at the little yellow heart dancing circles through the air. 

Laura had asked her to a party. Carmilla didn’t even care that the cupcake had brought it up as two roommates getting to know each other. That was more than enough. More than anyone else in recent history had cared to know.

Perhaps that was even better. Carmilla had been asked to thousands of parties by thousands of girls because of the cut of her jaw and the tightness of her pants. Not that Carmilla minded necessarily, it was a good distraction, but there was something nice about being looked at as a person.

*POP*

Not that Carmilla actually wanted Laura to be looking at her jaw or her pants anyway. That would be ridiculous. Laura was Laura. All innocent eyes and kind smiles and to turn her simple act of kindness into anything more was wrong. A perversion of the kindness that was Laura Hollis. 

The girl who could be kind to an evil vampire and sometimes smiled at her like Carmilla actually made her happy and who sometimes made Carmilla smile little smiles back. 

Pure sunshine Laura Hollis.

*POP*

Who innocently asked her to a party to be friends.

*POP*

Who was snoring right now with little exhales that sounded like tiny chainsaws.

*POP*

This time Carmilla looked up. These stupid hearts were getting the entire wrong idea. But there they were. Five tiny yellow hearts prancing about in the dark above her bed. Carmilla sat up and swatted at them. Trying to corral them into submission before someone noticed. 

They danced away. Her movement only sent them floating across the room where they hovered over Laura. Carmilla’s eyes widened as the hearts danced slowly downward, nearly brushing Laura’s nose. Leaping out of bed, Carmilla rammed her hand into the space between the heart and the cupcake, keeping the two from meeting. 

Laura mumbled something as Carmilla looked down at her. Her brown hair impossibly adorably messy as the girl rolled over and squished her nose into her pillow, smiling as she embraced the yellow monstrosity. 

Carmilla frantically grabbed at the air, catching four of the hearts. The fifth hovered stubbornly out in the open, just beyond her reach. 

There was no way Carmilla was leaving it out in the open like that. Moving as lightly as possible, the vampire stepped up onto Laura’s bed. With one foot on either side of the sleeping girl, Carmilla flailed her arm as she tried to grab the last heart without releasing the four she’d already captured. 

Just out of reach. 

Carmilla jumped slightly, using the springs of the bed to get just enough height to catch the heart with the tips of her fingers.

“Carm?” Laura spoke softly through a sleepy drawl. The girls fingers crept out, wrapping themselves around Carmilla’s ankle. Laura’s fingers gently brushed against her skin.

Holding the hearts to her chest, Carmilla locked her body in place and said quietly, “Hey creampuff, go back to sleep.”

Laura rolled slightly, curving around Carmilla’s foot as her fingers ran slowly up and down Carmilla’s ankle, “What’re you doing?”

The hearts in Carmilla’s arms bounced, trying to free themselves. She thought fast, “Reallly big spider on the wall cutie. Couldn’t let it get you.”

“Ok,” Laura retracted her hand and nestled back into her pillow, “my hero eh?”

Carmilla slipped off Laura’s bed. Rummaging through her closet, she shoved the five hearts into her old giant rucksack. One of the few things she’d brought with her. She tied it shut and shoved it back into the bottom of the closet. 

Out of sight. Out of mind. 

Carmilla perched back on the edge of her own bed. Staring at her sleeping roommate. Her sleeping Laura. Absently, her fingers trailed over her ankle. 

*POP* *POP* *POP*

“Oh come on!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm about 90% sure that I'll be doing another chapter for this one so here's hoping that you guys like it! Personally, I found the image of a scowling Carmilla swatting at literal tiny hearts extremely amusing. This is based on a comic 'Love is Purple' by delintthedarkone for the Rumbelle fandom so all props to her for the initial image/concept.
> 
> If you'd like to leave a comments, questions or kudos here or on tumblr it always makes my day, gives me smiles, and keeps me motivated through this 30 day writing haul. Everything is appreciated. 
> 
> This is the sixth story of '30 Days of Creampuff' where I'll be posting a Carmilla fanfic chapter every weekday for 30 days. 
> 
> I hope to see you swing by ariabauer.tumblr.com Always great to hear what people think or want to see more of :)  
> Stay Stupendous - Aria


	2. Heart of Grey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MISS ME CUPCAKES?

The hearts were greying, the vibrant yellow dropping to a barely there hue. Carmilla couldn’t exactly move but she could see them out of the corner of her eye, huddled together by the floor between her bed and the wall. She briefly struggled against the ropes tying her to the chair but day 5 of the starvation diet was starting to wear on her. 

Not that it seemed to bother the fair maiden sleeping peacefully in the bed next to her. Laura was curled up in bed, a wooden stake dangling loosely from her fingers.

“Why are you even still here?” Carmilla hissed at the hearts. They bobbed slightly, clinging together and barely clearing the floor. 

She’d never even had time to hide them. 

The first of the hearts had popped into existence the moment she’d swept into the room, champagne in hand, and seen Laura waiting for her. Dressed like a virgin sacrifice. Carmilla had practically prowled through the room, eyes trained on her roommate. The skin on her neck. The smile on her face. 

The fact that she was waiting. 

When the first heart had popped into existence, she’d quickly batted it aside with the bottle, sending it flying under her bed where Laura couldn’t see it. Carefully, Carmilla had settled onto the bed next to Laura, popping the champagne and pouring it neatly into two glasses. 

Laura had called the offered drink, ludicrously expensive. Carmilla fought back the smile. Naive little cupcake. The stolen bottle was hardly a prime vintage. The cupcake was trying hard to impress.

*POP*

Carmilla had leaned back, smothering the heart under her fist and sending it to the floor. 

The third heart came when Laura gave her sass. Carmilla’s nose was full of the scent of Laura pulled close. They were close. She knew the effect she had on girls. Most girls. All girls. Would have been swooning. But not the cupcake. She objected to being a ‘canape’.

*POP*

Carmilla had reached out, pulling Laura even closer to keep her from spotting the bright yellow heart. She let her fingers trail through Laura’s hair, nostalgia and the present mixing into a heady concoction that for once let her feel like a girl on a date and forget everything else. 

Laura caught her gaze. Their eyes meeting and holding with something flickering that Carmilla’s wasn’t quite sure what to do with. For a moment she thought that Laura leaned closer and Carmilla’s brain froze, as her body copied the action. 

*POP* *POP* *POP*

She didn’t turn to look, keeping her eyes locked on Laura. Maybe, they didn’t matter. Maybe, she didn’t have to hide them. Maybe, just maybe, Laura would be okay with the hearts. 

Then Danny had burst into the room. 

And now Carmilla knew the truth. She’d known it from the second they’d tied her up, pinning her down. She’d wildly fought back, trying not to kill anyone in the progress for some stupid infantile reason called hope. They’d tied her up and she’d spotted the tiny hearts. Nestled near the ground. Still yellow. But bunched in the corner. 

Hiding of their own accord. No longer trying to get Laura’s attention. Cowering. 

And her heart had broken. And the hearts had lost their luster. 

But there were still here. Five days later and they were still around with the faintest twinge of yellow brushing their surface. Carmilla couldn’t figure out what was keeping them going. 

“Just go away,” she snarled through the dark, closing her eyes against their presence, “nobody wants you. Nobody ever wanted you. She didn’t then and Laura doesn’t now...” Carmilla gritted her teeth and tightened her eyes. 

Vampires don’t cry. 

The hearts were still there on Day 9 when Laura had forced blood into Carmilla’s mouth. The girl’s panic ringing clear even through Carmilla’s convulsions. And, after gulping down the blood until the buzzing in her head ceased, Carmilla told Laura her story. Dragging it past her fangs for the first time in a century. No-one else had ever asked. 

Or demanded. Still, the Cupcake had taken it. First with puppets and laughter, then with quiet and simple hand on Carmilla’s leg. 

Carmilla thought she heard a pop and straightened. But when her gaze cut the room to reveal nothing, she relaxed. Thankful. They’d gotten the message. Still, the hearts hiding in the corner looked a little less grey. 

#

Will’s pursuit of Laura was to be expected. What Mother wanted, her latest member of the family was only too happy to give. Finally free of the ropes, Carmilla stretched her shoulders, working out the kinks that had seemed permanently indented in her body.

It had nothing on the coffin but was still annoying. 

She’s simply watched as Will rounded on Laura. Indecision providing her with the perfect excuse to do nothing. Certainly the cupcake was, in a word, unique but that didn’t mean she was worth the destruction of Carmilla’s carefully constructed world. 

The world where she wasn’t in a coffin. 

The world where Mother let her roam free between the Silas trips. 

She avoided looking at the hearts bunched in the corner. 

The Carmilla of two weeks ago would have helped the creampuff but that girl had been called a monster, starved, and tied to a chair. It was easier to simply do nothing. Not the hero. Not the villain. Just complacent.

Of course, complacent wasn’t the word anyone could use to describe Laura Hollis. As Will advanced on her, Laura’s hand jutted forward. The palm of her hand slamming into Will’s windpipe before the cupcake whirled and barricaded herself in the bathroom, screeching about Krav megav. 

Carmilla had let the smirk peel across her lips as Will stopped, slightly stunned. 

“Oh yes,” Carmilla quipped, “girls who fight back are so inconvenient.”

*POP*

Carmilla’s jaw almost opened as a small pale yellow heart, the smallest yet, burst into existence and quickly burrowed itself into her palm. She looked down at her hand, the little yellow heart was nestled safely in her palm. It wasn’t trying to float away but it didn’t look like it was about to disappear either. 

By the time she looked back up, Will had Laura in a tight hold, his fangs hovering over her neck.

Curling her fingers around the heart, Carmilla decked him in the face. 

Her own heart dropped when she realized what she’d done even as Will raced from the room. Barely a second of analysis making it clear that the starvation diet hadn’t left her with the strength to chase him. Turning, she pounced on Laura. Carmilla’s fangs easily slid out to pierce the girl’s throat.

Even as the blood filled her with life, she pressed the small heart against Laura’s arm. An apology. 

Then Carmilla raced away, heart in fist.

#

Carmilla stomped back into the room, heading straight for the closet and yanking her rucksack out. Her mind immediately inventorying what she needed before Laura shouted at her, exasperation and frustration pounding off the girl in waves. 

“I’m a vampire,” Carmilla snarled, “what did you expect?”

Laura kept talking, “So you’re just going to run? And as soon as you leave they’re just going to come after me?”

Carmilla ignored her. And the fragrant smell of her blood, still on her lips and filling the room.

She opened up her rucksack to shove a pile of clothes inside when a warm yellow glow stopped her mid action. The hearts. 

The same three yellow hearts that she’d shoved aside weeks ago were still glowing a vibrant yellow from the depths of her bag, bobbing up to whisper against her fingers. 

Laura’s voice broke through, “It’s your word against his that you’re being disobedient. Running though, that would totally make you look guilty.”

Carmilla stared down at the hearts, watching as they glowed at the bottom of the bag, peeking out from the clothes she’d left behind. 

“So ironically,” Carmilla said, not looking at Laura, “my best chance is to stay here and justify protecting you.”

She could almost hear Laura’s shrug, “Funny how things work out.”

“Fine,” Carmilla said, barely managing to close the bag before the hearts could dash up, “but don’t think I haven’t forgotten about the last few weeks.”

Carmilla stalked off to the shower as Laura shouted at her, giving the cupcake her anger right back. As she went, Carmilla chucked the bag into the corner to hide the distinct yellow glow slowly filling the corner. 

#

The hearts only grew in frequency. The next had popped up when Laura was yelling at her of all things. Carmilla face had broken into a small grin as her roommate outlined Carmilla’s flaws to demonstrate that she wasn’t pod-peopled. 

A heart when Laura had let her put the batcharm on the second time. A pair of hearts when, that night, she saw Laura actually wearing the charm as she slept. 

Surprisingly, there were no hearts when Laura had yelled at Danny. Carmilla’s heart had risen briefly, but one look at Laura’s shattered face had stopped the un-named emotion in its tracks. With the mushroom attack to distract her, Carmilla told herself that she was thankful. The hearts were an annoyance anyway.

It was a hard idea to keep up when four hearts had come spilling out as Carmilla rushed to Laura’s side when her nightmares hit. Carmilla leapt across the room, hand resting on the back of the cupcake’s head as a single word plea slipped from Carmilla’s mouth, “Laura, Laura, Laura, Laura.” The hearts gathered in a herd between the door and Laura’s bed. Thankfully un-spotted. Their wiggling calmed as the discussion turned to talk of Elle, the hearts stilling but their brightness remained. 

There was a heart hovering behind the dusty pages of an ancient Sumerian text as Laura slid closer while Carmilla perused the pages, ostensibly to be helpful with the research. Carmilla sat on the heart. The cupcake couldn’t even read Sumerian.

Carmilla kept the smallest heart, from the night of the punching, in her pocket. It pulsed with a burning pain when Laura heard Lafointaine was missing and the cupcake had just cradled the batcharm. Realisation flooding her features.

She didn’t know how Laura missed the sea of hearts covering the ceiling when they waltzed. Chest to chest. Whirling. Hands linked just a little too long. Carmilla kept her eyes on Laura. She told herself it was to keep the cupcake from looking up and that it had nothing to do with the galaxy’s she could see shimmering in her roommate’s eyes. 

By this point, Carmilla had an army of hearts stashed throughout the room. Shoved into every nook and cranny she could find. In the closet, under the bed, under the mattress, in bags, in pockets, stuffed down the shower drain. 

Every single one of them had pulsed vibrantly when Laura had mentioned needing the sword. In a panic to calm them, Carmilla had volunteered to retrieve it. This seemed to appease her tiny army of misconceived ideologies as they returned to their normal hue as Laura’s smiled widened. 

Unfortunately not everyone got the mention and even as Carmilla said, “Don’t be silly, of course I’m doing it for you.”

*POP*

Right in Laura’s eyeline. 

Only Mother’s act of taking over Laura’s body had kept the cupcake from seeing the heart. It was not a trade Carmilla found fair. She would have shown the girl her entire army if it had kept Mother out of the girl’s head. 

But fate wasn’t so kind to undead vampires. And as Carmilla was forced to make a much worse deal, all the hearts shivered in fear, knowing it was only a matter of time until they were broken. Still, not one protested the final choice. 

But no hearts appeared as she held Laura tightly in her arms, catching her as Mother left her body. 

No hearts appeared when Laura kissed her cheek, thanking her for her bravery. If anything, some of the hearts cracked. False and afraid. 

And, as Laura found out about Carmilla’s deal with Dean, rather than stick around to see the state her hearts were in. Carmilla fled. Eyes closed as she bolted out the door and across the campus. Unwilling to see the yellow fade to grey or worse, to see the yellow hearts keep their hue but turn into nothing more than a pile of yellow dust. 

#

Carmilla sat, staring at the computer, as she watched the image of Laura head off to fight an army of vampires. Totally unprepared. Carmilla rubbed her temples, eyes burning, mouth slightly open. A swear slipping out. 

The hearts had emerged, no longer needing to hide. They flooded the room, filling it with a cloud of small, bobbing yellow hearts. Frantically buzzing behind and above Carmilla’s head.   
Carmilla stared at them for a moment. Then stood abruptly, making her way towards the door. The cloud followed her, squeezing through the doorway like a merry troop of lemmings as Carmilla bolted after Laura. 

*POP*

Camera still running, one tiny heart drifted back through the door. Settling neatly on Laura’s pillow. 

With the cloud of hearts surrounded her and a sword in her hand, Carmilla didn’t even notice one was missing. She stood on the edge of the pit and took one last look at the world. In fact, Carmilla wouldn’t have noticed if the whole cloud had vanished because, before she leapt over the ledge to stab the light, all she saw was Laura.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey cupcakes. Took nearly a month off to re-group but now I'm back. Thank you so much for your patience. If I haven't said it before, I'm still incredibly wowed by your wonderful responses to the other stories and, as requested, I'm happy to go back and add some chapter twos!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for your views, kudos, and comments. They mean the world and it always makes me smile to see them light up my inbox. So thank you in advance. My policy of answering all the comments is still in place. If you'd like to hang out and chat or silently be friends who just nod at each other but never speak tumblr is the place to be (http://ariabauer.tumblr.com/)
> 
> stay stupendous cupcakes, <3 Aria


	3. Heart of Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this will be the end of this one cupcakes. I may do something from Laura's view or for season 2 (let me know if you're interested) but for now, this is the ballgame.

The world was spinning. Carmilla could feel it shifting under her, the very foundations of the earth trembling and spinning through the mass that was the infinity of space. She was everything and nothing. The fabric of space and time and reality flowing through her consciousness to rip it shreds.

And she was tired of fighting. 

She shouldn’t have lasted this long and the tinge of yellow around her vision told her why she had. The hearts, as mysterious as reality, were holding her together. But they were dying. Slowly popping away as the press of time became too much for them. 

She’d started with an army. Now she could feel two. 

After three days, maybe she deserved the rest of oblivion. The endless sleep that was denied to her kind. The answer to each question of philosophy.

One of the hearts faded away, battered against the universe. Only the tiny little heart still clenched in her fist remaining. Or what she assumed was her fist. Carmilla wasn’t even sure she had a fist anymore. Floating through the universe as nothing more than a consciousness wasn’t exactly conducive to limbs. 

Still, she squeezed the little heart tighter. The last flicker of yellow in her consciousness. Not the worst way to go. The yellow dot was small but as bright as it had ever been. A vibrant, eye-numbing pocket of sunshine.

It got a little smaller.

Yellow like her favourite pillow.

It narrowed to pinprick. 

Yellow like hope. 

Red. Suddenly her world was awash in a sea of red, the small yellow pinprick still shining under the flow of colour that coated everything.Swirling and pulling and tugging her back together and the universe faded away and all she could see was red around a circle of yellow. Red like passion or fire or the earth. 

Red like blood. 

Carmilla could taste it. As though there was blood on her tongue and, unable to fight the reflex, she swallowed. 

And the red turned orange. Red was an old friend as it dripped from her fangs and carried her through time. Yellow was a mischievous new acquaintance as it burst through the darkness and forced her to consider possibilities she’d thought long forgotten. 

But orange was unheard of. 

Yet it washed over her vision as the yellow dot grew and gleefully mixed with the familiarity of red. Carmilla swallowed again and suddenly the orange was fire that burnt without burning and leaves that changed without dying. Exploding in a flair of brilliance that wiggled with unexpected truth and warmth. 

The nothingness receded as the taste of blood and the colour red and yellow and the warmth on her head and the familiar smell of the cupcake who was not a literal cupcake grounded her. 

There was a soft hand on the back of her head. Carmilla sat up, sputtering slightly as the liquid seemed to burn on the way down. The hand drew away, the warmth of a touch receding but the tinge of orange at the corner of her eyes remained. 

Confused, she shuffled forward. Forced to stop only when she hit the end of the bed. Carmilla re-evaluated, surprised to find herself back in her dorm room. Laura`s dorm room. Their dorm room. 

Laura’s bed. The smell filling her. Grounding her. 

Still the swirling of the universe still pulled at her, sword demanding it`s price, and Carmilla swayed for a moment as she almost gave into its pull. To simply float away. Hearts be damned like her soul. 

But with a soft squeeze she found the little yellow heart still hiding in her hand. 

And she couldn`t bring herself to damn it. 

“Well,” Carmilla forced the words out, “that was a kick.” 

She was hit with a warm mass that smelled like sunshine on a rainy day. Gasping, Laura wrapped Carmilla in her arms and nearly smothered her. Carmilla smiled, arms dragging up slowly to try and increase the contact. Pressing the tiny yellow heart against Laura’s arm in a silent plea to the universe. 

*POP*

Carmilla forced her eyes open even as Laura drew back. 

She barely held in the gasp. Floating between them, bouncing gleefully in the sun, was a red heart. 

Carmilla’s free hand drifted upward of its own accord, carefully caressing the heart with her index finger. The little heart bounced, happily winding between her fingers.With a shuddering breath, Carmilla grasped the heart lightly and offered it to Laura. Cursing her hand as it trembled, hovering in the air between them, as she wondered what had happened in the pit to turn her hearts red.

It was Laura’s turn to take a deep breath, “Actually,” Laura said, “I thought, you might keep it?”

Carmilla’s stomach twisted as she withdrew her hand and looked down. Laura didn’t want it. Of course, she didn’t. It was Carmilla’s. 

“I mean,” Laura kept going, rambles taking over, “you were dead. You were dead for days and I kept thinking of the pit and how you had all those yellow hearts before you jumped in and then when I came back to the room and I found this I thought that maybe…”

Laura trailed off and Carmilla lifted her head to see what Laura could possibly have found to make her see Carmilla as even more of a monster that she wouldn’t take the little red heart. 

An orange heart. Cradled carefully in Laura’s grip.

Carmilla’s gaze bounced to Laura’s face, colour licking at the edges of her vision. Laura bit her lip and continued, “I mean, not this exactly. But it was this. The pre-orange heart. You know, like, a yellow heart? Like all the ones at the pit. And I, figured it must be yours.” Carmilla said nothing so Laura plowed on, “And it was on my yellow pillow when we made it back to the room and I thought maybe that you’d left it for me like a last goodbye or to make sure that I knew that you… um.. you know.” Laura mumbled the words. 

Then her pace picked up again, “And I kept it with me the whole time you were dead because it fit perfectly in my pocket but it kept getting smaller and smaller and I didn’t know what to do because you were gone and the yellow heart made me feel a little bit better when all of my red hearts just made me feel worse because I was afraid they’d turn grey and…”

Carmilla threw up her head, back straightening and her fists clenching over both the red and the yellow hearts in her hands, “Your red hearts?”

“Yeah, um,” Laura blushed and reached out, snagging her yellow pillow. She turned it over and gave it a small shake. 

Red hearts came pouring from the fabric, falling out of the case and dancing across the floor. As though it was some signal, hearts popped out around the room. Under the bed, under Carmilla’s bed, Laura’s backpack, her laptop case, the TARDIS mug. They pooled across the floor, winding around Carmilla’s ankles like affectionate cats. 

Carmilla just stared at them, breathing heavy. She lifted her hand and brought the first red heart to eye level and gave it a small squeeze. With a poof she was awash in the scent of leather and old books and hot chocolate and just a hint of blood. 

Laura was blushing the colour of the hearts even as she clenched tighter to the orange heart in her hand. Pulling it against her stomach to protect it, eyes desperately roving Carmilla’s face. 

Carmilla let the red heart go, watching as it quickly shot forward to nuzzle against her chest. Nearly shocking the silent organ into giving a beat. 

She froze, brain scrambling to reach the seemingly impossible conclusion.

Laura apparently took her freezing a different way. “They’re not for me,” Laura’s voice had a tinge of desperation, as she took a step back, “I’m so sorry. I just assumed and I’m sorry that I assumed and you must think I’m such an idiot right now. The yellow hearts weren’t yours or they were for someone else and I just assumed because I wanted it to be true and then I tried to make orange and it worked and I’m so-”

The red hearts were Laura’s. 

They were for Carmilla.

Carmilla stood, red hearts dancing around her ankles and a red heart nuzzling her chest as she got right into Laura’s space. So close that the words died on Laura’s tongue as she stared at Carmilla. Orange heart in hand. 

For a moment Laura was silent, then the words spilled out again, “Cause the blood wasn’t working and I didn’t know what to do and I had the yellow heart and it was still shrinking so I took one of my red hearts and rammed it into the yellow one because I didn’t know what to do and then this orange heart appeared and-”

As Laura spoke, Carmilla slowly lifted the tiny yellow heart. The smallest heart that had lived in her pocket and survived the void. When it entered Laura’s line of sight the words slowly died in the cupcakes throat. Her eyes jumping from the yellow heart to Carmilla and back again. 

Carmilla let the heart go. 

It didn’t hesitate. Her little yellow heart that smelled of cinnamon and sunshine leapt to Laura, tucking itself safely in the crook of her neck. Laura’s hand drifted up to place a lingering finger on the heart and a smile split across Carmilla’s face as she watched the wonder grow in Laura, eyes wide, sparkling. 

She looked back up at Carmilla, the brightest grin on her face, “and I put the red heart with the yellow heart and an orange heart appeared and then you started moving again and it just felt so right and you were dead and now you’re not and you’re here and you do have the yellow hearts and I have the red ones and now there’s an orange -”

Carmilla leaned forward and, when Laura didn’t draw back, pressed her lips against Laura’s.

And the world exploded again. The swirling and mixing of colour and universe mixed with the stability and consistency of the ground. She was everywhere and right here. Laura’s mouth soft under her own, their hands drifting. Innocent touches to remind that yes, they were here. Both of them. Soaring and stable. Lost in a sea of red and orange and yellow. 

Each with a heart tucked under their chin. 

Pops rebounding in their ears. 

But when Laura leaned back all Carmilla heard was the girl’s giggle and a smile to big to contain rolled across her face. Even when they pulled away the second time, their hands stayed joined, holding them together. 

“Look,” Laura squealed. 

Drifting between them were two orange hearts. The original large heart and a smaller new one. The small yellow and red hearts that had nuzzled their chins turned into something wholly new. 

Carmilla’s smile only grew as it was Laura who jumped forward. For a second kiss.

Not a single heart hiding. Two orange hearts nestled amongst them. A swirling mess of red and yellow hearts buzzing around them. Before settling into a contented pile of colour on Carmilla’s bed. 

Laura broke the kiss, tugging her back against Carmilla’s bed and leaning innocently against her side. Joining lips again and snuggling into the cushion of hearts. Head on chest. Nuzzling. Hand on back. Stroking. As they just held each other, red and yellow. 

Orange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I deeply hope you liked it cupcakes. I love the visual image and I can only hope that this story touched you as well. 
> 
> You're all so unexpectedly wonderful and I'm so thankful for those of you who take the time to kudos, comment or pop over on [tumblr](http://ariabauer.tumblr.com/) . It means the world cupcakes, please know that. Sometimes, it's all a girl has. 
> 
>  
> 
> As always, it's been a pleasure cupcakes. Stay stupendous. Aria


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